Loading... E3 2009 Preview

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Ten Ton Hammer takes to the skies today to bring you the latest from E3 2009 starting tomorrow. E3 is noticeably bigger and better this year, and we'll discuss how this year's event seems to be returning to its old self plus preview a few of the upcoming MMORPGs we'll be seeing Tuesday. And to whet your appetite, we have an all new Champions Online powers interview, the podcast from our Fallen Earth dev chat, some guesswork on WoW's next expansion, and much more in our Ten Ton Hammer article lineup today. It's all in Loading... E3 2009 Preview.

Need more newsletter? Play World of Warcraft? Jay "Medeor" Johnson's weekly WoW newsletter "The Overpull" comes out every Tuesday and keeps you entertained and informed on all the latest developments in WoW. Sign up!

The Pulse

You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is Pulse?).

Here's today's top 5 Pulse results for today:

World of Warcraft Age of Conan Warhammer Online (UP 2) EverQuest 2 (down 1) Lord of the Rings Online (UP 1)

Biggest Movers in the Top 20 today :

Free Realms (down 5 to #9 ) Runes of Magic (UP 5 to #19) Star Wars: The Old Republic (down 4 to to #18) Recent MMO Releases 5/11 - Chronicles of Spellborn 1.0.4 - "Scrolls of Keys and Courage" (patch) 5/15 - EVE Online Apocrypha 1.2 (patch) 5/19 - Warrior Epic (launch date) 5/19 - Vanguard "Halls of Pantheon" (content patch) 5/28 - Dragonica (CBT key giveaway) Upcoming Releases 8/25 - CrimeCraft (release date) 9/1 - Champions Online (release date) ?? - Jumpgate Evolution (release date) Important Dates 6/2 - 6/4 - E3 2009

Loading... Daily

Apologies for the short Loading since I have to leave shortly for the airport. Though it was hard to say E3 without shaking your head and sighing the past few years, but the 2009 exhibitors list alone is something like three times the size of last year's. While studios like Blizzard and Cryptic aren't on the list, they'll have a presence at the event and we've even scored a few bonus interviews with these incognito types.

And since E3 is getting back to its old self, and we're testing the waters this year with a few brave sacrific... I mean writers. Two, actually, myself and Garrett. That's down from the twelve we sent to E3 2005 (overkill? just barely that year), and the four who flew to Santa Monica in 2006 for the E3 that wasn't. Two is two more than we sent to last year's E3, though, and it's going to be a busy time.

And to give you some idea of the craziness we'll be dealing with, for most shows we try to do four appointments per writer to allow time to post the juicy bits, consolidate your notes so you can write the article at some ungodly post-party hour that night, upload assets, do a bit of last minute research for the next interview, and grab maybe grab some food and coffee while picking your way through the crowds to the next meetup. Even four appointments is a stretch for most sites, who like to keep it to 2 or 3. This year we had to overload our schedule in order to escape a day early and ease the pressure on the budget. So I'm looking at the schedule and my back, feet, and sleep quota are hurting already, because we have between 6 and 8 interviews scheduled each day.

Nonetheless we should have a good show this year, and tomorrow's a banner day with Star Wars: The Old Republic, Jumpgate Evolution, The Agency, DC Universe Online, Torchlight, Huxley, and a few more interviews on games that consistently make the Pulse Top 20. How much of that we can get out to you immediately is anyone's guess, but rest assured that if it's new information, you'll see it first at Ten Ton Hammer.

Any expectations for this year's E3? Do we need a big video games event in North America besides BlizzCon, or have you learned to do without? Discuss E3 in the Loading... forum, or as usual, feel free to email me.

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our Articles, News and Events Discussion

SOE Shutting Down The Matrix Online

There's a really big glitch in the Matrix this time


Next month
the servers for The Matrix Online will flicker and go dark for good.
The game has struggled along since its launch in early 2005, so it may
come as no surprise to some that it's coming to an end. And yet, MxO is
the first game in Sony Online Entertainment's string of StationAccess
MMOGs to meet its demise. We wish all the best to the developers moving
on from MxO, and to the community, however small, that was still
loyal to the game.


Does the end of MxO signify impending
trouble for other SOE MMOGs with small populations like Planetside,
Vanguard or even Star Wars Galaxies? Or will SOE just cull the weakest
from the herd and carry on? Are you sad to see MxO go, or do you see
its ending as inevitable? We're talking about it in our News Discussion forum. Come join us!

==============================
Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread

"If
you're going to buy a damn game off a company make sure you're going to
bloody fuel the game and not leave it on the shelf to gather dust and
let the sub count drop."


- Metal

"I
know it is easy for a lot of people to hate on SOE, but if they didn't
pick up the game from Monolith after Ubisoft backed out, then the game
most probably would have died in the arse only a few months after
release.

It was most probably costing them more in licensing fees alone than they were making on subscriptions. "


- Annatar
==============================

Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!

7 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 7 in June! 629 in 2009!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

Champions Online Powers Interview #1 - Gadgeteering, Munitions, and Archery
Character creation is a vital portion of any MMO. Whether you’re just naming your character or – if you’re like Champions Online – specifically customizing every piece of equipment down to the codpiece, it’s incredibly important to nail the player’s sweet spot. To help players decide, Ten Ton Hammer has scheduled a number of exclusive interviews with Cryptic Studios’ Bill Roper focusing specifically on the various powers that players can choose from. We started with three “implement-wielding” power sets – Gadgeteering, Munitions, and Archery – and we’ll continue to expand this list as the weeks go on. For now, settle in and enjoy a look at these upcoming powers in Champions Online. Exclusive Aion Ranger Screenshots
With our recent Aion Ranger interview, NCsoft was kind enough to send over some awesome screenshots just for our readers! These exclusive images feature the Ranger in all his glory showing off some nice battle shots and they offer a peek at the wide variety of armor and weapons that will be available in game. Loading Live #18: Fallen Earth Closed Beta Dev Chat podcast
Lead Game Designer Lee Hammock is the voice of the rugged post-apoc MMORPG Fallen Earth coming later this year from Icarus Studios. Lee's fresh from a fan event in Portland, Oregon and has plenty to report from the game's closed beta, including new details on vehicles (including vehicular combat and how mounts work), the game's economy, graphics performance, combat system, and much more. Join Ethec and Machail for the week in MMO news, then listen in as the staff and community toss Lee a variety of questions in this Loading... Live #18 - Fallen Earth dev chat! World of Warcraft's Next Expansion (opinion)
What will World of Warcraft's next expansion be? Many ask this question and a lot of ideas are floating around on the Internet. Join David "Xerin" Piner as we explore this topic as the next BlizzCon is looming in the horizon. Could it be an entire expansion of Murlocs or will be burst off into space? If you have ideas on what you think it will be then why not join us in our forums. Comic: Geeked - "The More You Know"
Ten Ton Hammer's very own satirical webcomic on all things geek-related is back a very special issue today. Pappy's here to tell you all just how uncool being a zombie really is. In short, it can make a man fall apart! Macros for WoW Rogues
Rogues have an innate advantage over every other class (except for Unholy Presence death knights) in that our global cooldown is only one second. So we have a lot more opportunity to press buttons... and we have a thousand buttons to press. A lot of them involve target switching, stealth, and situational strikes--all things that will detract from the time we are stabbing or punching the hell out what's in front of us. The solution is macros. Macros can make your life a lot easier and reduce the amount of time you spend frantically clicking and waiting for that situational attack to come up. Guide to WoW Death Knight Glyphs
While talents play a huge part in how and what your Death Knight is
capable of, many players seem to underestimate the impact that Glyphs
have on their character. Death Knights are no different than every
other class in that each build has several key glyphs that make a huge
impact on their viability. Byron “Messiah” Mudry digs into several
common PVE builds to look at which Glyphs are key for each one.

Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to:

Premium Content: A Gaming Bully - Is World of Warcraft Ruining MMOGs? Exclusive Dragonica Online Beta Key Giveaway Aion: Class Interview - The Ranger Exclusive Aion Ranger Screenshots Loading Live #18: Fallen Earth Closed Beta Dev Chat podcast City of Heroes: Exclusive Dev Diary with Bruce Harlick - A Circle of Fifths Comic: Geeked - "The More You Know" EVE Online: Sins of a Solar Spymaster #13 - The Participation Game World of Warcraft's Next Expansion Star Trek Online: Exclusive Interview with Craig Zinkievich

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

-Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer team